


show her some beauty before

by deerie



Series: show her some beauty before [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Character Death Fix, Domestic Fluff, Fae & Fairies, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Kid Fic, Magical Accidents, Pack Building, Pack Family, Rituals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-24 00:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1585841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerie/pseuds/deerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles can’t believe this - of all the creatures they have ever scuffled with, Derek had to go and get <i>fairies</i> involved. He pushes his fingers like tenterhooks against Derek’s chest and guides him from the living room. He whispers, furious, “Are you telling me that you willingly summoned fairies, Derek Hale? Maybe I just misheard you, because no one willingly brings fairies into the mix. Oh my God. Why does no one ever run things by me, because I could tell you right off the bat - <i>no fairies</i>.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	show her some beauty before

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from Arcade Fire.

Stiles scratches his chin. He looks down at two figures huddled on his couch. He looks back up at Derek. He opens his mouth and then closes it again. He's got zero words for this. 

Derek glares at him and that - that Stiles can work with.

"Whoa, put the eyes away, big guy. I have done nothing," Stiles stops and looks back at the couch, "but clearly, you have. Tell me what happened."

Derek huffs and crosses his arms. 

Stiles says, "Tell me what you did or I won't be able to help you."

That seems to do it. Derek inhales through his nose and closes his eyes. He lets what seems like all the air in his lungs go - going, gone - and then starts to talk. “I was going through the bestiary and in the back, there’s the section on traditions and rituals.”

Derek keeps explaining and Stiles gets progressively more irritated and annoyed. 

Stiles can’t believe this - of all the creatures they have ever scuffled with, Derek had to go and get _fairies_ involved. He pushes his fingers like tenterhooks against Derek’s chest and guides him from the living room. He whispers, furious, “Are you telling me that you willingly summoned fairies, Derek Hale? Maybe I just misheard you, because no one willingly brings fairies into the mix. Oh my God. Why does no one ever run things by me, because I could tell you right off the bat - _no fairies_.”

Derek grimaces. “Look, my family - before the fire, my parents used to do the ritual. I didn’t realize it had anything to do with fairies, okay?”

Stiles softens a little bit, but shakes his head again, “You did something without knowing what it does? Derek!”

“They always told us it was for renewing the land!”

Stiles scowls but takes a step back. He takes a moment and composes himself. “You get one pass for good intentions. Are they changelings?”

Derek shakes his head and slumps. “No.”

“Where did they come from? What did the fairy say to you?” Stiles asks. “Exactly, what did the fairy say to you _exactly_?”

Derek leans against the wall, like he can’t hold himself up any longer. “It said that it was giving me a chance for rebirth and renewal. And then it told me to leave saucers of cream at the edges of the property and to make sure that next time to send the alpha. No refunds.”

“Rebirth, well, at least it didn’t make you into a child.” Stiles says. That could have been bad. “Wait, did the fairy actually say ‘no refunds’?” 

Derek nods. “Yeah, it was really weird. Not what I expected from a being older than time.”

Stiles huffs out a laugh. He hooks a thumb back toward the living room. “So, they’re really -” he cuts himself off. 

Derek nods anyway. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they are. They smell the same.”

“Rebirth,” Stiles says. “Sounds fun.”

Stiles looks up at Derek. “You get to call Scott.”

***

Stiles walks back into the living room. He squats down in front of the couch. “Erica? Boyd?”

The small child with a shock of blonde curls peeks up at him. She bares her teeth and Stiles is less surprised than he should be to see fangs. Boyd stays quiet and peers at him. 

Stiles can not even begin to comprehend the levels of bizarre happening on his couch right now. 

He turns his head to look back at Derek. Derek’s chewing on one side of his thumb with his phone pressed against his ear. Derek is really going to leave this to him. Derek is the worst. 

“Hey, guys,” Stiles says gently. He channels as much Scott McCall through his body as he can. “I’m Stiles. That’s Derek.”

Erica growls in an adorable voice and says, “Of course we know who Derek is.”

“Oh yeah?” Stiles asks. “Who’s Derek?”

“Alpha,” she says. 

Shit, Stiles thinks. They have _a lot_ to explain. Stiles hears Derek walk out of the room, presumably to speak to Scott in private, away from prying little werewolf ears. 

“Uh,” Stiles says. “You guys hungry?”

Boyd eyes him speculatively. “What do you have?”

“I’m not sure,” Stiles says. “Let’s go look in the kitchen.”

Stiles leads the way, Erica and Boyd following him like baby ducks. He sets them up at the kitchen table while he searches through the fridge and cabinets. 

Predictably, because neither Stiles nor his dad enjoy grocery shopping, there’s not much in the house. “I’ve got, uh, cheerios and some milk.” He pauses to sniff the milk. “Nope, never mind, I don’t have any milk. Just cheerios.”

Boyd levels him an unimpressed stare. 

“I have to go to the store,” Stiles says blandly. 

“I want something to drink,” Erica says. “Not water. I don’t like water.”

“Dad might have some juice, let me look.”

Turns out all they have is orange concentrate. Stiles sighs and runs the frozen can under a steady stream of water. He doesn’t even know if they have a pitcher to hold the juice. He is so unprepared to host children in his house. 

He can feel Erica and Boyd watching him. They’re probably judging him and his inability to make juice. Stiles is definitely going to have to make a run to the grocery store. 

He digs through the Tupperware cabinet for a few minutes. Stiles can hear Erica giggling at him - and, shit, he’s missed her. Shit, he’s missed both of them. He rocks back onto his heels and falls down backward against the floor into a sit. 

Shit, he can feel tears burning in his eyes. 

A small hand presses against his shoulder and Stiles scrubs at his eyes. He turns and Erica throws herself into his lap. He looks over her shoulder and Boyd stares at him with big concerned eyes. 

Boyd asks, “Are you okay?”

Stiles wraps his arms around Erica and hugs her close. He beckons Boyd over and he comes willingly enough, slipping out of his chair and across the room. Boyd sits on his knees next to Erica and Stiles. 

Stiles says, “I just really missed you guys.”

He reaches out and cups Boyd’s head with one hand. Boyd pushes against Stiles’ side. Stiles glances up to the doorway and finds Derek watching them with dark eyes.

“Scott’s on his way,” Derek says. 

Stiles nods and tugs the kids closer to him. 

Derek crosses the kitchen and bends down to pluck the pitcher Stiles somehow missed among the pile of plastic containers. He takes it to the sink and starts on the juice. “Stiles, you slacking already?”

Stiles exaggerates his eye roll for the kids - that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Erica giggles and uses Stiles’ head to push herself up so she can jump around the kitchen. “Juice! Juice! Juice!” She chants. 

Derek smiles fondly at her. 

Boyd puts his hands on either side of Stiles’ face. He stares deeply into Stiles’ eyes. Stiles smiles at him and Boyd nods firmly once. 

Stiles thinks fiercely, _’I am never going to let either of you go.’_

Derek eyes him like he can tell what Stiles is thinking, but telepathy isn’t a thing that werewolves can do as far as Stiles knows. And if it is - well, Stiles doesn’t want to know about it. He thinks that in Derek’s general direction. 

Stiles pushes himself up and goes to get cups. Boyd sticks close and Stiles has to employ an unusual amount of grace to stay upright. Stiles pats Boyd absently on the head and then hands him a plastic cup. 

At least plastic cups are kind of the norm in the Stilinski household. Stiles winces when he thinks of how many glass cups he’s broken in his illustrious life - _so many_.

“You want a cup?” He asks Derek.

Derek shakes his head and Erica continues to shout, “Juice! Gimme juice!”

Derek directs Erica to the table with a hand on her shoulder and she goes easy enough, slipping back into a chair. Boyd takes his empty cup to Derek and then follows Erica back to the table. 

Stiles brings the cups of juice Derek pours to the table. He slips one in front of each of the kids and then slides into a chair across the table from them. Derek follows at a slower pace, but finds a seat all the same.

“So,” Stiles asks. “How old are you guys?”

Erica enthusiastically thumps her cup down on the table. Juice sloshes over the side, but Stiles doesn’t say anything. Erica, on the other hand, shouts, “I’m four and a half!”

“Wow,” Stiles says seriously. “Four and a half! How about you, Boyd?”

Boyd holds up a hand with all five fingers spread. 

Derek nods sagely, like five is the best age to be. Boyd quirks a smile in his direction. 

“How old are you, Stiles?” Erica asks. 

Stiles laughs and says, “Eighteen. Ask Derek how old he is. I bet he’s _ancient_.”

Erica giggles. It seems to be a theme for her. 

Stiles likes it. When he slides a glance over to Derek, he thinks that Derek must like it too.

***

Apparently, Derek filled Scott in on the whole situation, because when Scott comes in Stiles’ house, he’s got bags of groceries on his arms.

“Did Derek tell you to get food?” Stiles asks, glancing suspiciously at Derek. 

“Nah, man, I just know you.”

“Aw, sweet,” Stiles croons. Scott is his best bud. 

Erica and Boyd both watch Scott with wide eyes. Erica curls her lip back and starts to growl, just a tiny unsure thing. 

Stiles catches her and says, “No, no, Scott is our friend.”

“Alpha,” she growls, confused. She looks back at Derek and seems a little lost. 

Derek frowns and flashes his blue eyes at her. Her eyes flash gold almost involuntarily. She looks back at Scott and he sighs and flashes his red eyes. 

“You gonna flash your eyes too, buddy?” Stiles asks Boyd. 

Boyd shakes his head. “I’m okay,” he says. He takes a sip of his juice. 

Scott sets down the groceries on the counter and comes and kneels in front of Erica. He lets his eyes bleed red again and lets Erica press her fingers against the skin underneath them. “I know I’m not the alpha you started out with, but I’d like to be your alpha now.”

Erica looks helplessly at Derek and asks, “Derek?”

Four and a half, Stiles thinks, and already having to make the tough decisions. He would add his two cents, but it looks like Derek and Scott have this covered. 

Derek reaches across the table and opens his hand. Erica cautiously slips her hand into his. 

Derek says, “I stopped being an alpha so I could save my sister.”

“Is she sick?”

Derek nods. “She was. She’s better now.”

Erica’s brow furrows. She looks quickly between Derek and Scott. “He’s good?”

Stiles wonders how much and what Erica and Boyd remember. They clearly remember Derek and the space he tried to fill for them. He wonders if they remember the alpha pack. God, he hopes not. 

This is the trouble with fairies, he thinks. This is the trouble with dealing with fairies. 

Derek squeezes her hand tighter. “He’s a really great alpha, Erica. I think you’ll like him and I think you’ll like his pack.”

Scott’s eyes slip over to Derek in surprise. Erica doesn’t look convinced and she says, “But you’re my pack.”

Derek bites his lip. Stiles is just about to jump in - say something about family, say something about _anything_ to get rid of the look in Derek’s eyes - when Scott saves the day. He says, “Of course Derek’s pack. He’s in your pack and I’d like him to be in my pack too. Would that be okay?”

He asks it to Erica but looks at Derek. Derek’s eyes are wide with surprise and he nods once. Erica thinks about it for a second and then wiggles her hand on Scott’s cheek to get him to look at her. “I think that would be nice,” she says. 

Scott grins and goes cross-eyed when Erica deems to bestow him with a kiss on the forehead. She tugs on Derek’s hand and leans across the table until Derek leans forward and lets her plant a kiss on his cheek. 

She blows a raspberry against Boyd’s head and he shrugs her off but grins at her all the same. 

Stiles practically looks at them with hearts in his eyes. Scott looks just as soppy. Stiles nudges Derek in the arm with his elbow and Derek nudges him back. 

Stiles looks at Erica and Erica looks back with a gleam in her eye that Stiles knows well. She says, “You pack too, Stiles?”

And he, helpless, says, “Yeah, Erica, whatever you want.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well! I hope you enjoyed this! I will definitely be playing in this sandbox more, so let me know if there's anything you'd like to see! 
> 
>  
> 
> [*](deerie.tumblr.com)


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